Darkness is on it's way
by The Resurector of fallen
Summary: Sequel to "Friend knows when he is needed" so if you didn't read first part do it now in order to understand some things in this one. Odd is haunted by nightmares about incoming disaster but his friends don't know anything about them. Only one person does. But that's not all. Odd is also trying to finally understand his feelings towards one special girl. What a mess huh?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys. I know it was just day ago after I finished my previous story, but beginning of the next one is completed already. I know that many people didn't read my first one but that doesn't make me want to give up. Anyways here you have it. Enjoy.**

_Nightmare _

_Odd was running towards the Factory after Jeremy called him "Odd we need you here, hurry! XANA is winning and you are our last hope. Please hurry"._

"_I'm coming guys" he whispered while he ran._

_But when he got there he saw that he was already too late. Factory was in ruins and black cloud was at the sky above it._

"_Odd?" someone called for him. He turned around to see who it was and immediately fell on the ground and started to back away from the source of the voice. What he saw made his blood run cold. It was his friends, but they weren't the same. They were covered in blood and dirt and were staring at him with looks full of hate._

"_You failed us Odd, you were our last hope but you failed. And now thanks to you XANA can rule the world however he wants. You failed Odd" Jeremy told him and than fell on the ground not moving anymore._

"_N-n-no" was the only thing blonde could say._

"_You were my best friend Odd. Even in the final moments I belived that you are going to come to save us, but you didn't. You failed Odd" Ulrich told him and fell._

"_I knew that you won't save us Odd. I knew it. You can't take anything seriously, not even our cry for help. You failed Odd". Yumi told him and fell._

"_Odd how could you? You promised that you will come for me when I need you the most, that you will know when to come, that you will know when you are needed because 'friend knows when he is needed'. You were the one that told me that, right? But at the time I needed you the most you weren't here. You didn't know that I needed you , that we all needed you. You didn't know that because you are not our friend, not my friend" Aelita told him and fell in his arms._

"_Princess I-" he tried to say something, but he couldn't._

"_You failed Odd" was the last thing she told him before she stopped moving. Her body was turning into dust and Odd could only watch as she disappeared from his arms. Ulrich, Jeremy and Yumi were gone too._

_Odd fell on his knees "I'm sorry guys, I'm so sorry. For everything. Jeremy, I'm sorry for getting on your nerves when you worked hard. Yumi I'm sorry for teasing you almost every day even when I knew it was the wrong time to do so and for always being a idiot that never takes anything seriously. Ulrich buddy, I'm sorry for being bad friend and for not being able to be better one when that was needed. Princess I- I'm sorry for not being able to be here to protect you when you needed my help the most, for breaking my promise. You are right, I'm the worst friend anyone could have. I'm so sorry" he apologized while tears were streaming down his face._

_Suddenly he noticed black smoke appearing around him and how cold it suddenly got. He heard pair of loud footsteps approaching him until something or someone was in front of him._

_Odd lifted his head up to see what it is. It was 7 foot tall black as night creature with white markings on his chest and red eyes. He knew who it was. XANA._

"_What? What do you want?" Odd asked XANA while staring at him._

_XANA was quiet at first and stared at Odd only but than spoke to him in deep voice "You couldn't save them Odd. You couldn't do that because you are afraid, because you are weak. I'm not going to kill you Odd but I will let you live with knowledge of what you could have stopped. Your life is going to be consumed by the absolute loss. The one you could have stopped if you weren't so afraid to do it" XANA looked him directly in the eyes "You failed Odd"._

"_NO!" blonde boy screamed._

_End of nightmare _

**And first chapter of this story is done. It's short one I know but for my idea of this story I think it's perfect** . **Anyways guys remember to R & R and until the next time, peace out.**

**P. S. I wanted to say another thing. This XANA's form will be his actual avatar in this series and will make an appearance in next few chapters from time to time. But only on Lyoko, for now. **


	2. When our fears become reality

**Chapter 2 is done. Enjoy.**

"Odd! Come on, wake up! Don't make me do this!" someone was shouting at him. Odd felt sharp pain across his face meaning only one thing. He god slapped.

Odd jumped awake. He was covered in cold sweat and was shaking a lot.

"Wha-" he wanted to ask but he couldn't say anything. Odd than noticed who slapped him. It was Ulrich.

"Oh god… Ulrich" Odd was so happy to see his friend being alive and friendly that he immediately hugged him "I'm sorry man, I'm sorry".

"Odd it's okay it was just a nightmare" Ulrich reassured his friend but it didn't work.

"That… That was no nightmare Ul. It was something else" Odd answered while shaking "I don't want do go back there".

"Odd look at me. Whatever happened in your nightmare doesn't matter because I'm here now, okay?"

"Ul you don't understand…" Odd tried to speak but he couldn't.

"I understand Odd. Whatever it was ain't going to happen because you aren't going to allow it. Don't allow this feeling to take over you, okay?" Ulrich finished.

Odd was only able to nod.

They were sitting in total silence until Ulrich broke it.

"How many times?" Ulrich asked Odd about his dreams.

"Every night. Same thing over and over again. I know it should get easier but it never does" Odd explained.

"It must be pretty hard for you Odd. I mean almost every time I get up I see you covered in cold sweat, shaking and mumbling about how sorry you are. You need to talk to us about it so that you don't need to fight it alone. Or if you are more comfortable that way, speak to Aelita because she experienced this kind of stuff and she can help you it" Ulrich suggested.

" I know Ul, I know. But I'm not ready, not yet" Odd shook his head.

Ulrich gave up " Okay I get it. I'm not going to push you". He got up from his bed and picked his bag "Anyways… I'm going to let you take shower. We will wait for you at cafeteria so take your time" he told him as he opened door "And Odd?"

"Hm?"

"You are not alone buddy, never forget that" and after that he left.

Odd smiled for the first time that day "I know".

Odd picked his towel and headed towards the shower. After he was done he leaned on bathroom sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like total mess. His hair wasn't the same but he gave up trying to fix it up and now it was mess of blonde and purple hair. He also looked so tired, like he wasn't sleeping for days. He turned water on and splashed his face. Odd took deep breath.

"_Are you okay son?"_ Mysterious voice asked him.

He sighted _"Yes Franz, I'm okay. Thanks for asking"_

"_No problem. I'm just worried about you son. I saw your nightmare too and it's okay to be scared of it. But don't let it get to you because that's just what XANA wants" _Franz reassured young boy.

"_Franz, can I ask you something?"_Odd asked him.

"_You know that you can ask me anything son"_ he responded.

"_That thing. I know it was XANA, but… Is that his true form, the one we will fight against?"_ he needed to know.

Franz was quiet at first. Thinking. After some time he finally spoke _"I'm not sure, for all these years XANA never had body for himself and that's why he possessed others. But now that his power is increasing it wouldn't surprise me if it was the case. You will need to be ready for anything son, even this"._

Odd nodded "_I know Franz, I will do my best"_.

" _I know you will son. Now how about we go get some food? I'm starving" _Franz suggested.

"_You can't seriously be hungry"_ Odd chuckled.

"_Well considering that part of me is inside your mind that means that I'm hungry when you are and so on. Understand?"_ Franz explained.

"_Sure, I guess. Come on than let's go"_.

But as soon as he was on staircase Odd heard loud crash and scream coming from courtyard _"What was that?!" _he asked.

"_I don't know, son. But it can't be good. Hurry_" Franz told him. Odd noticed panic in his voice and started running.

He opened doors that led towards the courtyard and he froze.

Black as night creature with white markings on his chest and red eyes was standing in middle of the courtyard looking for someone.

"XANA" Odd whispered.

Than it saw Odd. It was looking at him for few seconds but didn't attack him. Instead XANA started walking towards the cafeteria.

Odd was confused at first but than realization punched him in the face. He remembered what Ulrich told him _'We will wait for you at cafeteria so take your time'_.

"Oh no" he whispered and started running towards cafeteria.

**And this is it for this chapter. I like what I did here and I hope you will too. Anyways next part comes out tommorow. Peace out.**


	3. When our fears become reality part 2

**Chapter 3 is up guys. Enjoy.**

Odd was running towards cafeteria as fast as he could "I can't let them down. Not again" he thought to himself.

"_Son you never let them down, you know that"_ Franz reassured him.

"_But-_"

"_There is no but son. Don't belive in that and everything will be okay_" Franz told him in sternly tone of voice. "_Now let's go help your friends_".

Odd was getting confident now "_Okay. Feeling sorry for myself isn't going to help anyone now, I will have time for that later. Let's go_".

Franz couldn't help but be proud of him "_That's the spirit_".

Odd was now in front of destroyed cafeteria "No… No…".

"_Son-_" Franz tried to stop him but was already rushing inside to save his friends. He got inside and he saw nothing but turned tables, destroyed windows and spilled food all over the floor.

"_They aren't here. Of course, that would make it easier for him to finish his mission_" Odd noticed.

"_Where do you think they are?"_ Franz asked him.

"_I'm not sure. But if I know them alright they are probably separated so XANA can't catch them all. My guess is that Ulrich and Yumi are decoys while Aelita and Jeremy made a break towards the factory_" Odd told him.

"_So where are we going_?"

"_To factory, I will be more useful there. Sooner Aelita deactivates that tower the better" he stopped in his tracks "What do you think_?".

"_You are right son. Aelita needs your help and-"_

"_Our help_" Odd corrected him.

Franz could only chuckle at that "_Alright. Our help. Let's go_".

Odd nodded and started sprinting towards factory. When he got there Odd noticed that it was awfully quiet "_Something is wrong_".

"_You are right son, something is really wrong. I mean this place was supposed to be quiet, but this is dead silent and even I'm getting chills from it_" Franz told him.

Odd wanted to say something else but he suddenly got grabbed and pulled behind a wall with hand over his mouth. He panicked and started screaming in his captor's hand.

"Odd calm down, it's me" person told him. He immediately stopped panicking and looked at the person which pulled him aside.

"Princess?"

"Oh Odd, thank god" Aelita hugged him "I got so worried that this thing got you too".

"Princess, what happened?"

"We tried to separate and confuse that thing but it was so fast that we didn't ménage to get to far away before it got Ulrich, Yumi and Jeremy. I did ménage to get away but that's it" she told him while tears started to appear in her eyes "I thought that I was all alone again". She hugged him again.

Odd returned the hug and they stayed like that for few moments "Princess you will never be alone, I'm always there for you… ".

"Except when you are not" deep voice said and moment later dark black fist smashed trough wall right behind them. It collapsed and XANA walked over rubble of collapsed wall and towards the two "Well hello there Odd, I'm glad to see you again".

Odd was speechless and started backing away "N-n-no this isn't real. No it's not".

"What is it then? Another one of your nightmares? The ones your 'friend' tells you not to worry about because 'that's exactly what I want'?" XANA taunted him and finished last sentence while taping his finger on his head.

Odd knew exactly what XANA meant by that "Y-You know-".

"About your friend hiding in there? Oh Odd you fool, of course I know about it. How much of an idiot you think I am?" XANA kept walking towards them but stopped in his tracks and focused his attention towards Aelita. She was unable to move.

"Odd really cares about you Aelita. You know that right?" XANA told her.

Aelita tried to answer him but she was unable to do so. Her lips were moving but words wouldn't come out .

"I wonder what will he feel like without you. Aren't you wondering about it too, hm?" XANA asked Aelita while he slowly approached her.

Odd decided enough was enough and stepped in front of her as a human shield "Don't you dare touch her XANA! I won't let you hurt her! Not on this day!" he shouted at him.

"Oh it looks like our fool is trying to be knight in shining armor" XANA still taunted him "Pathetic".

This is when Odd snapped. He noticed crowbar laying on the ground, picked it up and rushed at XANA with pure rage.

"ODD WAIT!" she tried to stop him but it was too late.

"I won't let you-" he started while swinging his weapon at XANA but was cut in mid sentence as XANA backhanded him and sent him flying across the room. Odd hit stone wall and he let out big sigh and than he finally hit the floor.

"Hurt her. Yes I know" XANA said as he looked down at Odd that was now on the ground "You are brave I will give you that. On the second thought maybe you are just stupid".

Aelita was speechless "No- Odd!"

She got XANA's attention and he turned to face her "Look what you did to him. He did this for you and for what? To be fifth wheel of the group? To be forgotten and left behind when you guys go do your love things? (**And for all of you dirty minded people I meant dating**) I kinda feel bad for him"

"No, that's not true!" she countered.

"Isn't it? Remember all those time you refused to go to cinema with him and watch movies just so you can have perfect double date without any interruptions. You can't remember? Well let me help you remember" XANA told her and looked directly in her eyes.

Aelita could feel something getting in to her mind but couldn't do anything about it. Soon she was sent back to her memory.

_Flashback_

_Odd was sitting outside cafeteria and was waiting for his friends to come out. When he noticed them he shouted "Hey guys, over here!"._

_They exchanged looks Odd have never seen before and only Ulrich and Aelita walked towards him while Jeremy and Yumi went in other direction. Odd noticed something was wrong but decided to keep his happy expression. They were now in front of him._

_Ulrich was first one to speak "What is it Odd?". _

'_Just Odd? No good buddy, or buddy or anything. Just Odd. Something is not right' Odd thought to himself._

"_Well good buddy, I was wondering if you and Yumi would like to go to cinema and watch movies with me tomorrow" he asked him in his still happy tone of voice._

"_Sorry Odd, but we are having date tomorrow" Ulrich told them._

_Odd wasn't going to give up and smiled at him "Okay good buddy have a nice time". Than he turned towards Aelita "What about you Princess?"_

"_Well, um- You see Odd- We are having some kind of double date and-you know-" she told him._

"_Okay, that's great. Maybe next weekend?" he tried again._

"_Double date"_

"_Weekend after that?" he asked less optimistic._

"_Double date"_

_Odd saw where this was going and he gave up. His expression fell. "Okay I get. As I said before have a great time" he said that while rubbing back of his head "I should better get going than"._

"_Listen Odd it's not like we don't want to or anything-" Aelita started but Odd cut her off._

"_I said I got it, okay!" he responded sternly and looked at both of them._

_What they saw made their hearts break. Odd's eyes looked like he just lost his soul. "I really should get going" he told them and left._

_When Odd reached his room, he closed his door and slid down to the floor. He was crying. Because his friend's thought of him as a distraction and that hurts. A lot. He was alone and he decided to let those emotions out of him. He climbed on his bed and started crying even harder. He was doing so until he finally fell asleep._

_End of flashback_

Aelita was back in the land of consciousness. Now she knew what XANA meant with that.

"Do you understand now? You hurted him a lot but he stayed by your side no matter what. You are just not worth it. He is better off without you" he said and looked back at Odd that was to his surprise trying to get up.

"You can't understand that XANA, and you never will. You are just a machine with no feelings that are needed to understand us" Odd told him as he coughed a little blood out of his mouth "It doesn't matter what happened before because that is in the past and what is happening now is the only thing that matters".

"You idiot, even tho you know that you were betrayed you are still being loyal to the same people" XANA was intrigued.

"That's because they are not just people, they are my friends" Odd told him.

"Well, you will now lose one of them" XANA responded and launched one tentacle from his chest towards Aelita.

"No!" Odd tried to shout but it was barely above his normal voice and than he fell on the ground.

Tentacle didn't reach her because it started disappearing "Out of energy already? Well I guess this will have to wait. See you soon" XANA told them and disappeared.

"Odd!" Aelita rushed towards Odd that was barely breathing "No Odd! Stay with me!".

And at that moment her phone rang "Aelita it's me. Are you okay?".

"Jeremy thank god. I'm okay but- but- but Odd! Launch return to the past, now! He is dying!" Now she was panicking.

"Return to the past now!" she heard Jeremy shouting. Moments later she saw white light approaching. But as it got closer Aelita noticed that Odd's chest were barely moving, and at the same time as it engulfed them Odd stopped breathing.

"NO ODD!" Aelita cried out.

**DUN DUN DUN. This is it for this chapter. As you can notice I change few things about XANA's appearance. It was planed for him to only be at Lyoko for now but I changed that and now he is on both Lyoko and in real world. I really hope that you enjoyed and don't forget to tell me what you think so far of this. Peace out. **


	4. Author's note

**Author's note**

**First things first I wanted to thank everyone that read my story I really appreciate it. Second of all I wanted to discuss few things about my story with you guys.**

**I said at the end of my previous story that I'm planning on doing balance between OxA and JxA. Why am I bringing that up you might wonder. Well here is why. I know there is a lot of JxA shippers but OxA shippers are here too and I don't want Jerlita readers to diss my story because it contains Oddlita and vice versa. I need you to understand that doing this kind of balance is kinda difficult because in order to do so after writing OxA chapter I need to do a little of JxA to counter it, than write OxA and so on just so both shipper groups can be well and happy. I respect everyone of you and I would be glad to do my best so you can enjoy but I ask you to not diss me because I'm not doing it the way you want. I really hope we can stay good because support from both groups really means a lot to me. Anyways guys thanks for reading this note and for all support. Next chapter of this story is coming up soon after this. So until than peace out. **


	5. Crisis that threatens to destroy us

**Chapter 4 is here guys. Enjoy.**

Aelita woke up "What- What happened?" she asked no one in particular but than she remembered what happened earlier. Right before Return to the past.

"Oh no- Odd" she whispered as she jumped on her feet and rushed out of the room towards boys floor "Please don't be. Please" she begged as she ran.

She barged inside Odd's room and she was shocked by what she saw there. Nothing. There was no one in there. "No- No-" she whispered as she fell on her knees and started crying "Not him. Why?" Aelita asked herself.

She heard door opening but didn't care. She was still crying.

"Princess? Are you okay" voice asked her and held his hand on her shoulder.

She turned to source of the voice and she couldn't belive it. Odd was there, well and alive. Aelita immediately hugged him and started sobbing on his chest.

"First Ulrich now you princess? What's going on with everybody?" Odd asked sarcastically.

" I guess she is also happy to see that you are still with us good buddy" Ulrich answered him while wiping his tears away. He also joined the group hug.

They heard sound of footsteps running toward them and moment later Jeremy and Yumi barged in. "Odd!" they shouted at the same time and rushed towards him, joining the hug and bringing everyone on the floor.

"This seems awfully familiar I must say" he said jokingly (**He was referring about the similar situation from 'Friend knows when he is needed'**).

They couldn't help but laugh at his stupid joke.

"Now if you are done with trying to crush me I would really like to get up" Odd told them while trying to get up.

"Oh right, sorry" they answered.

Now they were sitting in awkward silence, Yumi and Ulrich sitting on Ulrich's bad and other three on Odd's.

"Odd I think we need to talk" Aelita told him. Odd knew what she had in mind.

"There is nothing to talk about" he responded.

"I think there actually is something. You knew about that creature, you knew it was XANA. Mind to explain us how?" she insisted. Odd was quiet.

"Not saying anything, huh? Well XANA answered it for you" she kept going "You had all this visions and you never told us about them. Never. Why wouldn't you do it huh?"

Ulrich was surprised about change of her attitude, she never forced anything out of someone especially not out of Odd. What surprised him the most was the fact that this was happening few minutes after she was finished crying on his chest. "Aelita I think you need to drop it" he suggested.

"No Ulrich, I'm not going to just 'drop it'. He hid the truth from us even tho he knew we would gladly help him" She stated.

"I knew about them and I also told him that he should talk to us or at least to you about it but he said he wasn't ready so I let him be" he explained " He will do it when he is ready".

"And when is it going to happen Ulrich? Huh? When we all die because he didn't tell us about that because he was to afraid to do so?" she kept going.

Odd remembered the same sentence that XANA told him in his nightmare _'You couldn't save them because you are afraid, because you are weak'._

"Don't" he said in sternly voice.

"Do what? Try to predict what's going to happen next on my own because you didn't tell me anything? You know that we would gladly help you but-" she wasn't able finish her sentence before Odd cut her off.

"The same way you were gladly going to watch movies with me, huh?" he asked her.

Everyone in the room was stunned because they knew what Odd meant by that.

"_Son don't do it. Not now_" Now it was Franz's turn to try to calm things down but it was already to late.

"How dare you!" she shouted at him but he didn't even flinch but was just staring at her "You know what? Fine have it your way. But don't expect my help with anything else from now on, we are done".

"Aelita drop it!" Ulrich shouted.

"Okay that sounds great to me! I'm better without you anyways! Maybe I would be better off with XANA, at least I know that he wants to stab me in the back!" Odd shot back.

"Odd you don't really mean that?!" Yumi was shocked. He ignored her.

"You- you-" Aelita was so angry that she started shaking.

"I don't need to listen to any of this!" he jumped on his feet and rushed towards door.

"Yes that's right! Run away from your problems Odd! You stupid coward!" she shouted after him.

"AELITA!" Ulrich finally snapped at her "SHUT UP ALREADY!"

Odd ignored all of this and slammed his door closed after he left.

"Jeremy let's go" she looked at Ulrich and saw that he was resisting to throw her outside his room himself "We are not welcome here anymore".

"But-"

"Now Jeremy!' she was getting mad again.

"Sorry" he whispered to Ulrich and left after her.

Now Ulrich and Yumi were alone in his room.

"I can't belive this" he told her as he paced around the room "What happened so suddenly? I mean one moment she was crying on his chest being happy that he is alive and next moment this happens. I don't understand".

Yumi approached him and hugged him from behind "I don't know Ul. I really don't. I never saw her mad like this- Well besides that one time she got 4 hours of detention for covering up for him. But than she had every reason to be mad, but now- I just don't know".

"Maybe is that time of the month you know" he said jokingly.

She chuckled at this "I doubt it".

He sighted "I hope that we will get over this crisis like we did with all the other ones".

"We all know that this one is harder than any other we faced Ul. But you are right, we can only hope that this won't separate us completely".

They were so focused on each other that they didn't noticed someone's shadow appearing underneath door.

"This is really interesting. XANA might want to know about this" William thought for himself and than left.

**This is it for this chapter. I know this is getting confusing, hell even I'm confused. Fun fact is that I never have prepared material for the story, I write it on the way and this is what comes out of it. Anyways guys I hope you enjoyed it and until next time. Peace out.**


	6. What am I going to do now

**Chapter 5 is up. Enjoy.**

Aelita and Jeremy were walking towards school exit and towards town. After what happened Jeremy was just being quiet not wanting to start new drama. He knew how big of a deal this crisis can be and how threatening it is for their group is. Aelita was also being quiet thinking about what happened before.

"Jeremy?" she asked.

Jeremy flinched "What is it Aelita?".

"I was just wondering if I was being to harsh towards Odd" she wondered.

"I think you really were. I know I should be on your side about everything but this time I can't do it" Jeremy told her.

Aelita looked at him. He noticed sadness in her eyes.

"Listen Aelita, I'm not mad at you or anything but you need to face consequences of your actions. You pushed Odd over the edge and away from yourself at the same time. You pressured him about not being ready to tell us about his nightmares even tho you knew he had every right to keep it to himself and you knew that you had no right to force him to tell us. You caused this and it could separate us completely. I mean looked what happened. You tried to pressure Odd and Ulrich defended him, Yumi is trying to stay neutral as well I do to. When you have two war parties in a group that can never end well" he explained.

She sighted "I guess so. What should we do?".

Jeremy thought about it and smiled "How about we go get some ice cream first, what do you say?"

"That's great idea" she said and hugged him.

William listened to whole conversation "Well, this is getting more and more interesting. It's time to finally get this over with". Than he left towards factory.

**XANA's lair**

XANA was pacing around dark room when William suddenly walked in.

"Master" he bowed "I have great news that you need to know".

"Tell me"

"It looks like crisis hit those kids master. I overheard that Odd and Aelita got in fierce argument that could destroy their whole group. Ulrich is on Odd's side and won't help Aelita so we need to worry about Yumi only. Without boys two of them won't be able to stop us in time. We will finally win master" William told him.

XANA thought about it. If they are completely against each other this will be easy but on the other hand it might not be easy as it sounds. If he studied Ulrich's character as good as he think he did than he knew that Ulrich is going to stay with Yumi so that's three of them against him. But still it's not going to stop him because he was stronger than three of them. Without Odd's help they are gone because Odd was the only one that could stand out to him in one on one fight.

"You are right, it's perfect time. I will activate the tower and send welcoming committee to accompany you to defend the tower. Go now" XANA ordered.

"Yes master" William responded and left.

**Back at Kadic**

Jeremy brought ice cream to himself and to Aelita. Two of them sat on bench nearby and relaxed. Aelita couldn't stop about thinking what has she done. Like he was reading her mind Jeremy asked her "You still think about don't you?".

She simply nodded "I can't shake it off. I feel so bad now".

He wrapped his hand around her shoulders and brought her closer "I understand how you feel but there is nothing you can do to change what happened".

"I know, damage is already done" she sighted "I'm going to apologize to him first chance I get".

Jeremy shook his head "I don't think it's going to be easy as it sounds Aelita. We both know Odd better than that. He ain't going to get over this so easily because he hates being attacked for no reason and that's exactly what you did. Simple sorry isn't going to fix this and you know it. And if I know Odd as good as I think I do I bet he is going to tell you same thing".

Her expression fell "Yes I know but I have to try. Or at least to get it off my shoulders".

Jeremy didn't answer.

They stayed like that looking at the sky in silence until Jeremy suddenly broke it.

"Aelita are you happy being with me?" he asked her.

She was stunned by that "Of course I am Jeremy. Why would you ask me that?"

He kept looking at the sky and sighted "It's just that sometimes I feel like I'm losing you. Losing you because what I am. Nerd at the computer screen doing nothing besides that, ignoring his girlfriend because I don't know what I'm doing".

"Jeremy that's not true" she told him.

He sighted again "Aelita both me and you know it is. I mean when was the last time you had true fun with me? And I don't mean working on programs and studying. I mean real fun".

Aelita tried to think of any fun moments they had but couldn't remember any. She looked at him sadly.

He smiled at her "That's because we had none. Last time we had it was the same day we got you back on earth. You know what I'm talking about. Walking you to Yumi's house, enjoying looking at stars, taking those idiotic and funny photos getting that pink flower for you. That was the first and only time I acted like real boyfriend. If I'm slowing you down you can tell me".

"Don't say that Jeremy. There is no one that can replace your place in my heart, you know that" she reassured him.

"I know. But that doesn't mean you can't have another special place for someone else in your heart, right?" he asked her with a smile.

Aelita could guess what he wanted to say but decided to deny it "Jeremy there is no one else you know that".

"Still denying it I see" he answered with a chuckle.

Suddenly she leaned in and kissed him "Is this enough to prove it to you".

He chuckled "Yes, I think it is".

Out of nowhere black clouds covered the sky and strong wind started to blow.

"What happened so suddenly?!" Aelita shouted so Jeremy could hear her.

"I don't know! But this isn't normal storm!" he shouted back "It must be XANA!".

"We need to go to Lyoko now, we will call the others when we get there!".

They rushed towards the factory. When they were in front of it they noticed that cloud above the factory was different than others. Jeremy realized what it is.

"Oh no! We are in the eye of the storm! Hurry!".

They were finally safe inside the lab and Jeremy called Ulrich "Ulrich get to the factory quickly, this storm is XANA's doing!"

"We know! We are in the sewers right now, we will be there in few minutes!" Ulrich informed him.

"Okay, be careful!" Jeremy responded. He turned towards Aelita "They are coming".

She sighted in relief "Thank god. But what about Odd?".

Jeremy totally forgot about him "I will try to call him, but I'm not sure he will want to come". He dialed his number but Odd's phone was off "I can't get to him, he turned off his phone".

"Oh no. He is out there alone! What are we going to do?" she was afraid.

"The only thing we can do now is to deactivate that tower".

As soon as Jeremy finished his sentence elevator door opened and Yumi and Ulrich stepped in.

"Where is Odd?" was the first thing Ulrich asked "I couldn't call him. His phone is off".

"Same here, I couldn't call him neither" Jeremy informed them.

"So we need to go to Lyoko without him?" Yumi asked.

"That won't be necessary Yumes" Odd told her as he climbed down the ladder.

"Odd!" they were glad to see him. Aelita wanted to run towards him but stopped when saw look in his eyes. It was cold, nothing like his normal one.

"No time for hugs Aelita we have job to do. Let's go" he told her sternly.

She was stunned "Uh- right".

"I will start virualisation process so hurry" Jeremy told them and they rushed in to elevator. Inside Odd was standing as far away as possible from Aelita. She looked at him with sad eyes and Odd noticed it but decided to ignore it. As soon as door opened they rushed towards scanners.

"We are ready Einstein, do it!" Odd informed him.

Scanner doors closed and soon they were virtualised.

**And this is the end of this chapter. I really hope you enjoyed. There will be another chapter coming out today so be ready. Peace out.**


	7. Reborn

**Chapter 6 is up. Enjoy**

**30 minutes earlier **

Odd was sitting on the couch in the Hermitage throwing tennis ball against the wall and catching it over and over trying to calm down.

He was thinking about what happened before not knowing what suddenly happened to his sweet and caring friend and caused her to become so angry.

"_I don't know neither son_" Franz told him.

"_How did you_-" Odd asked him surprised.

"_Know what you are thinking about? I'm in your mind son, so that means whatever you think about I will know it_" he explained.

"_Right, I forgot_" Odd sighted.

"_You feeling okay son?_" Franz asked him worryingly.

Odd stopped throwing ball at wall and sighted "_I'm not sure. I feel fine physically but on the other hand I feel like my heart hurts you know_".

Franz did understand him "_I know how you feel son, I really do. Seeing person you really like shout at you without any logical reason can do this to you_".

Odd knew what Franz meant by that but wasn't in the mood to argue so he gave up "_You are right, I do like her and that's making everything harder. From the day I got here I was looking for someone special that I'm going to love to the moon and back and that's why I dated almost every girl in our school. I broke many hearts and mine was broken but I kept going because why not. But now everything is different. Aelita was always there for me, always ready to listen when everyone else didn't and she was actually the only person that could make me study when needed no matter how much I resisted_" he smiled at that memory but got sad again "_Franz I know that I'm not good person because I broke all those innocent hearts. But I didn't think everything will hit me back this hard. I guess this is my karma_".

"_Don't say that. This might be a little crisis but it isn't karma because you never did anything to deserve any kind of it. Yeah you broke many hearts, but son you realize that you are still a teenager and that's what teenagers do. Get together, break up, find another 'love of their life' and repeat. You are not bad person Odd. Totally opposite, you are great guy so don't you say you deserve anything bad to happen to you_" Franz reassured him "_You need to go back and talk this over with your friends_".

"_Maybe, but still it doesn't make me feel better about it_" Odd told him sadly.

Franz had another thing on his mind "_Son I know this is going to sound strange coming from me but I need to ask you. What makes my daughter so special to you?"_

Odd thought about it "_I'm not sure if I'm being honest, she is just special. From the moment I saw her she was but I never noticed it in such a way before now. She is like silver lining in the darkness. She is like eighth world wonder to me_" (**I know that in original series Odd called Bringa eighth world wonder**).

Franz could only smile at that "_Why didn't you tell her than? I mean you knew each other for almost three years but you never told her. Why didn't you?"_

Odd thought about it again but he already knew the answer. He sighted before responding "_I couldn't do it to Jeremy. He is head over heels in love with her and I couldn't imagine him being heart broken because of me. I think I could never forgive myself if I did so. And besides he did more for her than I ever did so I have no business interfering with their love_".

"_But son you did a lot too. You were the one that was risking his life and limb to save her, you were ready to sacrifice yourself so she can be safe. You even fell in digital sea after saving her. You were the one that helped her to learn many fun things this world can offer. You were the one that introduced her to the world of DJ. So don't say that you haven't done anything_" Franz told him.

Odd sighted "_Yes I did all those things but it still can't compare with what he did. He spent sleepless nights in order to materialize her back to earth, to find her antivirus, to recreate Lyoko after it got destroyed, to create skid so we can fight XANA on the internet. He was sacrificing his sleep, his health and his sanity so she could finally have better life. But what did I do in meantime? Joked around, pulled many pranks, kept breaking hearts. It's obvious that he did more than I ever could and nothing can change that_" he sighted again "_Yumi from my nightmare was right. I can't take anything seriously not their problems or anyone else's. And because of what? Because I'm selfish loser that cares about about himself_".

"_Son that's not true_" Franz told him.

"_We all know it is_" Odd's voice suddenly got more determinate, more cold "_But not anymore. I'm done being stupid little kid that can't take things seriously, I'm done being burden to our group because of that. I'm done. This is moment when old Odd died and new one was born. Everything will be different from now on_".

"_Son, please think about what you are saying. Funny Odd was heart of this group and nothing can change that, not even you. They love you the way you are and you don't need to change in order to keep it that way. You are perfect the way you are and-"_ Franz was unable to finish before Odd cut him off.

"_Franz please stop. I made up my mind and nothing can change it. I really respect you so please, please stop trying to change it_" Odd told him in his normal voice without any trace of anger.

Franz sighted and gave up "_Okay son I understand, do whatever you think is right_".

Odd smiled at this "_Thank you, for understanding_".

Suddenly strong wind started blowing and windows started slamming on each other "_What's that?!_" Odd asked.

"_Whatever it is it can't be good. We can't stay here. We need to find shelter. To the factory_". Franz suggested.

They rushed out of the house and when they were outside Odd was shocked. Above where factory is was black cloud, darker than any other. He realized what was going on.

"_Oh no. Just like in my nightmare. Franz we need to hurry!_' Odd told him.

"_Let's go than_" Franz responded.

They rushed towards factory. They decided to go through boiler room and ran towards the ladder. As Odd were climbing up he heard his friends talking about him. He got up and got ready to go down on next side.

"So we we need to go to Lyoko without him?" Yumi asked.

"That won't be necessary Yumes" he told her as he climbed down the ladder.

"Odd!" they were glad to see him. Aelita wanted to run towards him but stopped when saw look in his eyes. It was cold, nothing like his normal one.

"No time for hugs Aelita we have job to do. Let's go" he told her sternly.

She was stunned "Uh- right".

"I will start virualisation process so hurry" Jeremy told them and they rushed in to elevator. Inside Odd was standing as far away as possible from Aelita. She looked at him with sad eyes and Odd noticed it but decided to ignore it. As soon as door opened they rushed towards scanners.

"We are ready Einstein, do it!" Odd informed him.

Scanner doors closed and soon they were virtualised.

**This is it for today I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to give me your opinion so far (especially about this whole Odd/Franz stuff). Next chapter comes out tomorrow. Peace out.**


	8. Change of heart

**Chapter 7 is up. Enjoy.**

They were virtualized in the desert sector.

"Everything is clear so far Einstein" Odd informed him "Where is the activated tower?"

"It's 30 degrees to the north. I will send you your vehicles" Jeremy told them.

"I don't need any you know" Odd told him and his wings appeared.

Overbike and Overwing were created and Ulrich and Yumi hopped on. Aelita joined Yumi and they were ready to move.

"Everybody ready?" Odd asked them "Good. Let's go". He took off and headed ahead of everyone.

"Jeremy are you sure that XANA's attack only involves this storm? What if he sent fake Odd to take us out again?" Yumi asked him.

"I'm not getting anything strange from the scanner but I'm still not sure" Jeremy told her "I would say chances are 50/50".

"Guys, that's real Odd" Ulrich told them.

"How you can be so sure Ul?" Yumi was surprised how quickly he made that assumption "We never saw Odd like this. So determinate, so cold".

"We never saw him getting pushed over the edge either" Ulrich responded while looking at his friend.

All of them were stunned by this.

"You want to say that what happened earlier caused this?" Yumi asked him surprised.

"That's right. Odd hates being pushed into corner and that's exactly what happened today. It's obvious that stuff Aelita told him broke something inside him and it pushed him over the edge. He got more cold and more determinate because of that. I just hope he is still in there" he explained.

"Oh no" Aelita whispered "What have I done?".

"Yeah that's good question Aelita. What have you done?" Ulrich answered in voice full of hate.

Aelita flinched at this. He hated her for what she did and she deserved all of it.

"Ulrich I didn't want for this to happen I-" Aelita started but he cut her off.

"Oh the great 'princess' didn't want it to happen?" Ulrich faked a surprise "Well what did you think it's going to happen?! That he will just get over it and say that he is sorry for not telling you anything?! On the other hand maybe he would do that if you didn't try to force it out of him! You caused this Aelita! This is all your fault".

"Ulrich calm down" Yumi tried to calm things down but it didn't work "None of us knew that this could happen and pointing fingers around isn't going to help anyone".

"Well she definitely didn't help" he responded.

Suddenly something wheezed past them and they realized it was purple energy field.

"Are you going to stop with that already?! They are going to hear us coming from miles away!" Odd shouted at them "We have to do this as best as possible so don't make me devirtualise all of you in order to do so".

"Odd-" Ulrich said but Odd wasn't listening anymore. They kept going in silence, sometimes glancing at their friend.

Yumi now realized what Ulrich meant. Odd went over the edge and there was slim chance for him to get back.

Ulrich just couldn't belive it. His friend was lost and he couldn't do anything to help him. He glanced hatefully towards Aelita only to see her looking sadly at Odd. His expression softened because it was obvious that she regretted everything.

Aelita could only watch as her friend distanced himself from everyone else and it was all her fault. All her fault. If she only wasn't so pressuring none of this would have happened.

Jeremy was sitting in his chair unable to say anything. Storm was getting worse and worse, but the storm inside their group was bigger. Much bigger.

Odd was ahead of everyone and he was mad. Really mad.

"_Son calm down, being angry at your friends won't make this situation any easier and you know that_" Franz told him.

"_I know, I know, but I can't help it. Whenever I'm around Aelita now I feel angry because of what she did and I feel like I wouldn't hesitate to devirualize her if she gave me any reason to do so_" Odd said quickly but regretted it immediately "_I didn't mean it like that Franz I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking_".

There was no response.

"_Franz?"_ Odd called for him .

"_You disappointed me Odd. You forgot what you promised because you allowed your rage to take over you. I was stupid to belive in you. Goodbye Odd_".

"_Franz wait!_" but he wasn't with him anymore. Odd was all alone again.

After some time they spotted activated tower and took cover behind big rock.

"Jeremy what do you see on your scanner?" Ulrich asked him.

"Hm- Let me see. Two tarantulas, three megatanks, two crabs and William. And we though that we will do it easy" Jeremy said sarcastically.

"It still is. It will take more than this to stop me" Odd told him than he turned towards the others "Okay we need to split up. Ulrich you take of tarantulas, Yumi you take care of those crabs and than help Aelita against megatanks, I'm going after William".

They simply nodded. "Okay let's do this" Odd told them.

They got to work. Yumi was doing pretty good against crabs and destroyed one of them. Ulrich had difficulties but successfully destroyed both of them and went to help girls against megatanks since Odd was doing great work against William.

Odd dodged Williams attacks and swung his sabre at his but missed. He was also shooting his energy fields and few of them found their ways to William.

"How are you so strong?" William growled at him.

"This was always me, but I never belived in that. Until now" Odd answered and swung at him again successfully hitting him "One more and you are done".

"I won't be defeated yet. Super smoke!" he yelled and rushed towards higher ground.

"Oh no you don't!" Odd activated his wings and went after him.

They entered second round of their fight.

William was doing better this time and managed to get Odd on the ground.

"Odd be careful! You have only fifty life points left!" Jeremy warned him.

"That's more than enough" Odd responded.

William raised his sword ready to deal final blow "It's game over".

"For you handsome" Odd told him and at the same time as sword almost hit him he ducked underneath it and got behind William.

"Wha-" William was unable to finish before Odd stabbed him through the chest with his saber and successfully devirtualised him.

"Now to help others" he told himself and went to help his friends.

Until he got there fight was pretty much over. Only one megatank survived and now it was rushing towards Aelita. Odd noticed it and tried to warn her.

"Watch out!". But there is no chance she would have time to do anything.

As he was rushing there Odd created stronger energy field and fired it on the ground between her and megatank. The blast destroyed megatank but Aelita was also sent flying over the edge of sector.

"No!" Jeremy, Yumi and Ulrich shouted as they though that it's over.

Aelita was on the edge of consciousness and couldn't activate her wings. She was falling until she felt someone grab her hand.

"I got you!" Odd told her as he started to lift her up.

"Odd?".

Once she was finally out of the danger Aelita fell on her knees and Odd knelt beside her and touched her shoulder. She looked at him with sad eyes.

"Why?" she asked him.

Odd sighted "Aelita no matter what happens it will always be my duty to protect you. Even after what happened today".

He got up and offered her his hand "Come on, that tower ain't going to deactivate itself". She gladly accepted it and got up. She looked at him one more time and made a run to tower.

Yumi and Ulrich approached him.

"Are you okay Odd?" Ulrich asked his friend.

"Yes Ulrich I'm fine" Odd sighted "I heard you talking about me earlier. Listen I'm not mad at you or anything but I need to tell you something. You are right I am different, but that's just because I need to be".

Ulrich was confused "I don't understand buddy. Why do you need to change? I mean you are great guy and we all can agree that you should stay like this".

Odd chuckled "He said the same thing". He sighted "My nightmares good buddy. They are the reason I want to change. You wanted to know about them, well here you go".

Odd told them everything from the start. Aelita joined and listened too.

"And than Yumi told me that I can't take anything seriously, not even your cry for help. What happened today made me realize that she was right. So that's when I decided I need to stop being stupid little kid and to grow up. And before you try, answer is no. I'm not going to change my mind".

"Odd that's not necessary. You don't need to change for our sake, it's fine if you stay same as you are" Yumi reassured her friend, but he wasn't going to give up.

"That's what you think. But you won't be able to change my mind because I already made it. And that's that".

Ulrich decided to support him "Okay good buddy, do what you gotta do".

Odd smiled and tapped his friend's shoulder "I will".

Suddenly they heard angry growl approaching and something jumped near them.

"Guys, I'm getting something on my scanner. What do you see?" Jeremy asked them.

"It's the same black creature Jeremy" Yumi informed him.

"XANA" Odd growled.

"It looks like I underestimated you little kids, but I won't make same mistake twice. Be ready to lose" XANA told them and attacked.

His first target was Yumi and she didn't stand a chance. XANA grabbed her neck and lifted her from the ground. Than he launched one tentacle from his chest and stabbed her trough chest and devirtualised her.

Ulrich rushed at him and managed to slash him few times but that didn't do much. XANA than used his claw to slice through Ulrich stomach and he was also done.

"Two down, two to go" XANA told them and walked towards Odd next.

Odd was a bit of a challenge. He evaded XANA's attacks and also did pretty good damage to him but will soon be beaten.

"You are worthy opponent Odd, I will give you that" XANA told him and kept attacking.

One of Odd's dodging attempts failed and XANA used it to send him to the ground.

Now he was standing above him pressing his foot against Odd's chest "Any last words?"

"I have one. Energy field!" Both Odd and Aelita hit him with energy fields and now he was flying over the edge but managed to grab it and hang from it.

"Now guys! It's your chance!" Jeremy told them.

"He is mine" Odd said and rushed at XANA.

XANA pulled himself up but only to see Odd's sabre heading towards him. But it was to late to do anything.

Odd stabbed him through the throat with his sabre and looked him in the eyes. Some kind of choking sound could be twisted it a little and than pulled it out.

XANA's lifeless body fell into digital sea.

"Did we actually do it?" Odd asked.

"_No, you didn't_" Franz told him.

"_Franz I thought that-_" Odd wasn't able to finish before ground started shaking. They looked at digital sea and saw that it became black as night.

Huge monster appeared and they knew it was XANA, but bigger. Way bigger. His true form.

"You pitiful little humans you are finished now" he told them.

XANA raised his hand and crashed it on Odd and Aelita. Before they could do anything it was game over.

**And this is it for this part. The next one will be the end of this story so I really hope you will stay with me during the rest of this series. Peace out.**


	9. Goodbye

**Well guys, here it is. The final chapter of this story is finished and I really hope you will enjoy it. **

Scanner doors opened and Odd and Aelita stepped outside trying to catch their breath.

"Wha- What- What was that?" Aelita asked him.

"It looks like- like XANA finally revealed his true form" Odd explained.

"_Well you are right in a way but still not truly_" Franz told him "_It's not his final form, but his buffed one. His final form is the one you fought against and defeating him only made him stronger there_".

"_Does that mean we can't win?_" Odd asked him.

"_There needs to be something we can do, but we will do it eventually. That's unavoidable_".

"We will need to ask Jeremy" Odd suggested "He probably knows what's up".

"You are right" she agreed "Come on".

They entered elevator and it started going towards the lab.

As they were inside Odd kept his distance but now he wasn't ignoring her. He looked at her and sighted. It was obvious that this still hurts him.

"Odd uh- I'm so-" she started but doors started to open.

"We will continue this later okay? Meet me at the Hermitage in midnight" he told her and stepped out.

She was confused '_Hermitage? Why would he want to meet me there?'_. She decided to shake it off _'It doesn't matter. I need to talk this over with him'_.

"Well Einstein, what do you know about this?" Odd asked him.

"I'm not sure what to think. For a moment it looked like he is gone and later he comes back bigger and stronger and manages to devirtualize both you in one move of his hand. From now on it's going to get more harder" Jeremy told them not being so optimistic.

"Relax Einstein" Ulrich reassured him "We will get stronger too and with Odd on our side we will win".

'_If you only knew good buddy' _Odd thought for himself.

"_Is that what you really want son?_" Franz asked him.

"_Yes, it is. It needs to be done_" Odd told him and looked at the wall on the other side of the room.

"_Okay than. Do whatever you want to son but know this. I'm coming with you_" Franz told him and went quiet.

"_Thanks_".

Gang talked about this whole XANA thing for a while when Aelita suddenly yawned "Ugh- I'm so tired. Can we go now?".

Odd recognized the sign and he yawned too "We are all exhausted Jeremy. We need to rest".

For once Jeremy agreed "Yes we can" he said as he turned of the screen "All of us could use few days off".

They left factory, said their goodbye to Yumi and went towards school. When they got there Aelita went to girls floor, Jeremy to his room and Odd and Ulrich to theirs.

Once inside his room Ulrich jumped on his bed "So tired" he mumbled and fell asleep thinking Odd will do the same thing. But he didn't.

Instead Odd went to his table, picked up his pen and piece of paper and started writing something. When he was done he made sure that Ulrich was asleep and than started to pack his things in his bag picking only what he though was needed.

He found picture that five of them made few weeks after Aelita was finally on Earth. They were so happy. Ulrich and Yumi were hugging each other, Odd was giving Aelita piggyback ride and Jeremy pretended to be serious. It brought back memories. Good ones.

Odd looked at it and sighted "I hope they will forgive me for doing this". He packed it too.

Odd looked at clock on his table. It was almost midnight.

"I better get going" he told to himself and walked towards the door. Kiwi woke up and looked at his owner. Like he knew that something was wrong Kiwi started to whimper.

Odd couldn't bear to watch it "Hey my good diggity-dog don't do this to me okay? You need to be strong and protect the others. Okay?" but Kiwi kept whimpering and Odd could feel his heart break.

"Be a good boy" he said and left the room before he could change his mind "One more thing and I'm off. Hermitage".

But before doing so Odd went to headmasters office hoping that Delmas is still there. He was.

Odd knocked twice and headmaster's grumpy voice said "Who is it this late?"

He opened the door. "Della Robbia? What are you doing here?" Delmas asked him surprised.

"Sir I'm sorry if I woke you up but I don't have time to explain, my dad will do it for me. I wanted to ask you for a favor" Odd told him as he handed him piece of paper "My friends have they first class with Ms Hertz tomorrow. Could you please give this to them? But please don't read it, just give it to them. Please". Odd looked broken and Delmas couldn't just refuse it.

"I- I will do it Odd" Delmas told him and took the piece of paper.

"Thank you mister Delmas, you are good man" Odd told him and left.

"What's wrong with him all of a sudden" Delmas wondered after Odd left.

After ten minutes Odd was finally at the Hermitage. Front door were opened which means that Aelita was in there.

"Aelita?" Odd called out for her after closing the door.

"In here!" she responded. Her voice was coming from upstairs. Her old bedroom.

Odd started to climb up the stairs thinking how is he going to make as less painful as possible. He wasn't exactly good at saying goodbyes.

He entered Aelita's bedroom and saw her sitting on the bed looking through window. At the sky, at the stars. Odd remembered that night on the bridge. The one he promised that he will stay by her side no matter what. And now he was about to leave and break that promise.

"Are you going to come in or you are going to just stand there like a statue?" she asked him jokingly.

Odd chuckled "Sorry, I spaced out for a moment".

She chuckled as well "I could see that".

Odd walked towards the window and rested his head on the frame and looked outside.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Odd asked her "This night, this forest, this sky".

Aelita was surprised. It was so unlike him to say something like that.

"It really is" she agreed.

They stayed like that for few moments before Aelita told him what was on her mind for a while now.

"Odd what I wanted to say earlier is that- I'm sorry for what I said to you today. I had no right to try and pressure you. I was so stupid" she couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.

"Aelita, look at me" Odd told her.

She slowly lifted her head up to look at him. He was smiling at her. But not with his usual goofy way of doing so. His smile looked more mature. It looked different than yesterday. Different than ever. It was like he matured overnight.

"I deserved that for trying to keep it a secret. I should have told all of you about them earlier. But I didn't. Because I was afraid you would make fun of me" He stopped for a second "Because I was weak".

"Odd that's not-"

"Please Aelita, let me finish. I know that you want to convince me that I'm not weak, but that's lie. It's a lie that strong people can fight their battles alone, that they can do anything alone. That's a lie. And I belived in it. I belived in it fiercely. Picking my own fights and refusing any help thinking that I don't need it. That I can win on my own. I was so stupid" he sighted "You were not acting stupid Aelita. If anyone was doing so it was me. And only me".

Aelita couldn't belive that she was talking with Odd. Their Odd. He seemed so different. So different that it was like he was someone new.

Odd looked at his watch "I better get going, it won't be good if Jim catch me outside again".

He was leaving but suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned towards her. He was smiling again.

"I need you to promise me something Aelita. Promise me that you will take care of yourself even if I'm not with you when you need me. That you will stay strong for me not matter what".

She was confused "Odd what are you saying? I-".

"Promise me that Aelita. Please".

Aelita was getting more and more confused but gave up "I promise Odd. But why are you telling me all this? You are still with me and-".

He approached her and pressed his finger against her lips.

"Shhh, stop".

He looked at her and smiled. Than he kissed her forehead.

"Take care of yourself Princess" Odd whispered in her ear and left the house.

Aelita was just standing there looking after Odd as he left. She suddenly got really sad but resisted the urge to cry. She looked at the sky for few more minutes than headed back to Kadic.

Odd was walking around the town towards the airport. He was sad but relaxed at the same time. That conversation with Aelita really helped.

After some time he was finally at the airport and he decided to call his father Mike.

"Hello?" Mike said sleepily.

"Hey dad, it's me, Odd" Odd told him.

Mike was now awake "Odd is there something wrong, where are you?".

"Who is it?" Odd heard his mother asking.

"Honey, it's Odd" Mike told her.

"Odd?" she asked surprised "Get him on the speaker".

"Hey mom" Odd was happy to hear his mother's voice.

"Darling are you okay? Why are you calling us this late?" she was worried.

"I'm at the airport now" Odd stopped for a moment "I'm coming home".

The next day Ulrich, Aelita and Jeremy were at science class with Ms Hertz but there was no trace of Odd.

"Odd Della Robbia?" Ms Hertz called for him "Odd Della Robbia?".

"Where is he?" Aelita asked Ulrich.

"I don't know Aelita" he responded.

"Maybe he is sleeping late again" Jeremy suggested.

"He is not. Because when I woke up he wasn't in his bed and some of things were missing. And for god's sake when I woke up I could hear Kiwi whimpering".

"Ulrich do you know where Odd is?" Ms Hertz asked him.

"No Ms Hertz, I don't know" Ulrich told her.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. "Come on in" Ms Hertz said.

Delmas walked inside the classroom.

"Sorry for interrupting your class Ms Hertz, but can Ulrich Stern, Aelita Stones and Jeremy Belpois come to my office? Yumi Ishiyama is already there".

"Uh okay, I don't see why they couldn't" Ms Hertz replied "Go on you three".

Once in the headmasters office they sat down and waited for Delmas to say something.

"I guess you don't know anything about Della Robbia's whereabouts. Am I right?" Delmas asked them.

They exchanged looks and than nodded.

"Well than" Delmas kept going "This night some time around midnight Della Robbia came here without any explanation and asked me do give you this" he handed them the piece of paper.

Ulrich started to read it and when he was done he let paper to fall down on the floor.

"Ulrich what is it? Where is he?" Yumi was getting worried.

Jeremy picked up the paper and all of them excluding Delmas started to read it. It was simple message.

'_I'm sorry for leaving without a goodbye but I couldn't risk it. I know you will wonder why I did this so I will tell you why. I couldn't stay around you without knowing who I really am. I left so I can settle some things with myself in order to be better. _

_Ulrich good buddy thanks for always being there for me when needed and I'm sorry for all troubles me and Kiwi caused you. I brought you new jeans yesterday to make up for the ones Kiwi destroyed last week, they are under your bed. Thank you once again for everything. Brother._

_Jeremy man thank you for getting us together in the first place. If it wasn't for you none of us would get to be friends with each other. I left you some money under my pillow so you can buy some of your nerdy magazines. Enjoy them._

_Yumes you are like big sister to me. I know I was kinda really annoying and I wanted to apologize to you for that. I had no reason to bother you about your and Ulrich's relationship and I hope you will finally be happy together. I sent you one present last week for your birthday but it's week late so I went to the delivery company and they will sent it some day this week. It will suit you I promise._

_Aelita, princess, I don't know what to say to you to make you feel better. I never meant to hurt you so please don't cry when you get this note, you know how much I hate when you cry. You were always special to me and I wanted to take this chance to tell you this because I don't know when I will get next one. I wanted to ask you to take care of my diggity-dog for me because he really likes you. You know what he likes to eat so I'm not worried. Take care of yourself._

_I know that you will be mad at me for leaving like this and I'm so sorry. I just hope you will be able to forgive me when I get back. I don't know when that's going to happen but it will happen no matter what._

_I hope that you know another thing without any doubt, just like I do. You weren't just my friends, you were my family._

_With love, Odd.'_

"Mr Robbia called me this morning and said that Odd isn't going to attend to our classes for few weeks or months. I told him that Odd can come back whenever he wants and that he will be welcomed no matter what. I know this is hard for you and I'm going to allow you to miss classes for today so you can support each other through this. You can go now" Delmas informed them.

But they were unable to do anything. What happened now really hit them hard.

Odd left them.

**This is it for this chapter and this story. I really hope that you liked this story and tell me your opinion about it so far.**

**Next story will probably come in few days because I need a little rest. I hope you understand and until the next time, peace out.**


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